Sealed carton for radiotubes



April 16, 1935. T. F. JOYCE 1,997,777

SEALED CARTON .FOR RADIOTUBES Filed Jan. 2v, 1934 E, INVENTOR /6 TFJOYGE MCM: f H /0 l2 H l ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 16,' 1935 SEALED CARTON FOR BADIOT'UBES Thomas F. Joyce, Moorestown, N. J., mignonto Radio Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application January 27, 1934, serial No.' '108,554

3 Claims.

My invention relates to containers or cartons for electron discharge or radio tubes and -similar electrical 'devices' and more particularly to sealed cartons in which the tube can be tested, but

from which it cannot be removed without dethe genuine tube originally packed in the carton is possible.

One object of my invention is to provide for -radiotubes and similar devices a sealed carton which protects the tube during shipment and handling, and also enables the dealer to test the tube in the presence of the purchaser without breaking theseal or removing the tube from the carton, so that the user obtains the genuine tube which was originally packed in the sealed carton.

Another object is to provide a sealed carton in whichlthe tube contacts, such as the base pins `and the`top cap, are shielded during shipment and handling of Vthe tube, but may be so fully exposedwhile the tube is still sealed in the carton that the packed tube can be tested on the usual tube checker or tester as conveniently as though the tube were removed from the carton. Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the following description of the preferred embodiment of my invention.

The novel features which I believe to be characteristic of my invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims, but the invention itself will best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a. perspective View of one form of car- -ton constructed in accordance with my invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the bottom end of the carton of Figure 1 with the contact pins of the base partially exposed; Figure 3 is a similar view with the contact pins :fully exposed; and Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of a sealed package containing a radio tube packed in the carton shown in Figure l.

The particular carton shown in the drawing is suitable for packing a radio tube, such as shown in Figure 4, with a body portion consisting of a bulb 5 and a flat bottomed cylindrical base 6. From the at bottom of the base the contact pins 'l arranged in a circle concentric with the base project longitudinally of the tube, and on the upper end of the bulb is a contact cap 8 which is considerably smaller than the body portion of the tube and also projects longitudinally of the tube.

The body of the carton is an oblong tubular shell or casing 9, of pasteboard or similar material, preferably rectangular, and square in crosssection, so that the cartons can be packed for shipment or stacked on the dealers shelves to advantage. The shell 9 is at least as long as the overall length of the tube from the tip of the contact pins 1 to the tip of the top cap 8. The shell is open at one end, preferably the lower end, to permit the tube tobe inserted in the shell. After the tube is in place in the shell, the carton is sealed at the open end by tting into the shell a bottom support tray-I0, usually of pasteboard, and of the same shape as the cross-section of the shell 9, so that it ts snugly in the shell. This bottom tray Ill, shaped somewhat like a shallow tray or cup, has its edges turned up to form sides H which lie ilat against the sides of the shell 9 when the tray is in place in the shell. The tray is tted into the shell, as shown in Figures 1 and 4, with its sides Il extending outwardly toward the edge of the open end of the shell. The tray has a central hole or aperture l2 for receiving the contact pins 1. The hole l2 has a diameter less than the diameter of the base 6 of the tube, but slightly greater than the diameter of the circle on which the contact pins are arranged. The bottom of the base overlaps the edge of the hole l2, so that the bottom tray l@ engages the bottom of the base and acts as a somewhat resilient support for suspending and retaining the tube in the shell.

It is obvious that the other or top end of the shell can be closed in various ways so as to make the shell into a kind of open ended box for the tube. I prefer to close the upper end of the shell 9 with a top support tray i3 similar to the bottom tray l0 and having sides M and a central hole l5 through which the top contact 8 projects. Both the holes i2 and l5 are smaller than the body portion of the tube, and may conveniently be of the same size, thereby making the trays interchangeable, which is a marked manufacturing advantage. The top and bottom trays are, as shown in Figure 4, spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the length of the body portion of the tube so that the body portion of the tube is held in the shell between the two support trays which engage the opposite ends ofthe body portion of the tube.

When the tube is packed in the carton, both support trays are permanently secured to the walls of the carton, preferably by staples I6 driven through the wall of 4 the carton and through two or more of the adjoining sides of the trays and clinched on the inside, as best shown in Figure 4. The assembly and sealing of the carton is easily and quickly accomplished because the position of the cup-shaped trays I and I3 in the shell makes it easy to insert a stapling machine into the ends of the carton and drive the staples through the walls of the shell and the adjoining sides of the trays. If desired, these staples may be made of metal strips wide enough so that a trade-mark or similar identifying symbol may be stamped into or otherwise marked on the staples. 'Ihe tube is thus securely sealed in the carton, and can be removed only by rupturing one of the support trays or the shell.

To increase the protection aiorded to the tube during shipment and handling, the tube may be surrounded with a liner I'I, best shown in Figure 4, and conveniently made of corrugated cardboard. This liner I 'I is preferably tubular and fits lthe bulb 5 of the tube rather snugly, but is rather loose in the shell 9, and provides some lateral cushioning for the tube. The liner is preferably of about the same length as the body of the tube and is held inside the shell between the bottom tray I 0 and top tray I3 when the carton is assembled and sealed with the tube in it.

As shown in Figure 4, the contact pins I of the base project through the bottom tray and the contact cap 8 projects through the top tray. In order to protect these projecting contacts during shipment and handling of the packed tube, the

bottom tray I0 is set back from the open end of' the carton a distance at least equal to the length` of the contact pins I to form a pocket for shielding the contact pins. The Walls of this pocket, formed by the sides I I of the bottom tray stapled to the portions of the walls of the shell 9 which project below the tray, consist of twoA thicknesses of cardboard, and are amply strong to resist collapse. The top tray I3 is similarly set inside of the shell 9 near the other end to form a similar pocket for the contact cap 8.

In order to facilitate exposing the contact pins of the base substantially as though the tube were removed from the carton, and thus to enable the dealer to put the tube on the tube checker or tube tester without using adapters or other special devices for reaching into the pocket at the bottom of the carton to engage the contact pins 7, `I prefer to weaken the walls of the shell 9 between the lower tray and the adjacent edge of the shell in some convenient Way, such as by a line of perforations I8 at the corners of the shell, or by scoring the walls of the shell, or in some similar way to facilitate separating and bending back the walls of the shell below the bottom tray I0 Vto open up the pocket which contains the contact pins 1. As appears from Figure 2, the walls of the pocket can be broken along these lines of weakness, and the projecting sides of the shell with the sides of the tray stapled to them bent outward so as to open up the lower end of the carton below the bottom tray and fully expose the contact pins of the base. Preferably, though not necessarily, these portions of the walls of the carton are laid back into substantially the plane of the tray I0, as shown in Figure 3, thereby exposing the contact pins of the base as fully for all practical purposes as though the tube were removed from the carton. 'Ihis full exposure of the contact pins 'I may be obtained without breaking open the carton or rupturing either the top or bottom tray, hence the tube may be tested while still sealed in the carton as conveniently as though removed from the carton.

My invention enables the tube manufacturer to supply the dealer with a sealed package containing a genuine tube, and the dealer can easily and conveniently test this tube in the presence of the purchaser without breaking the seal, so that the purchaser can be sure of obtaining the tube which was originally packed in the carton. The extension of the walls of the carton beyondy the support trays permits shipment and handling of the package without exposure of the contact pins or the top cap to injury. The weakening of the carton walls below the bottom tray permits breaking down the lower end of the carton' without breaking the seal, so that the base pins may be fully exposed and the dealer can easily test the tube in the usual tube checker.

While I have illustrated the preferred form of my invention, various changes and modifications can be made, and my invention is not limited to this particular form.

What I claim as new is- 1. In a sealed container for an electric discharge tube or similar article having a body portion and a longitudinally projecting contact terminal, an oblong tubular container shell open at one end and at least as long as the overall length of the, tube, a breakable support tray with upturned sides tting within said snell with its sides extending outwardly toward the edge of the open end of said casing and adjoining the sides of said casing, said tray being set transversely of said shell at a distance from the edge of the open end of the shell which is at least equal to the length of the contact terminal of the tube and having an aperture smaller than the body portion of the tube for receiving the contact terminal of the tube, some of the sides of said tray being permanently joined to the adjoining sides of said casing to x said tray in place and thereby seal and suspend the tube within said shell, the walls of said shell beyond said breakable tray being suiciently weakened along longitudinal lines to be weaker along said lines than 'said container comprising an oblong tubular shell .at least as long as the overall length of the tube,

a pair of cup-shaped support trays spaced approximately the length of the body portion of the tube and fitting inside said shell with their upturned sides adjoining and permanently xed by staples to the sides of said shell and extending outwardly toward the adjacent end of said shell, one of said trays having an aperture larger than the projecting contact terminal and smaller than the body portion of the tube and positioned inside said shell at a distance from the adjacent open end substantially equal to the length of the projecting contact terminal of the tube, the walls of said shell having alined perforations between the edge of said shell and said apertured tray to form longitudinal lines along which said shell is weaker than elsewhere to permit the walls of said shell outside said tray to be broken along said lines and bent back and the open end oi said shell thereby enlarged to facilitate making an electrical connection to the projecting contact terminal oi' the tube in said container.

3. A sealed carton for an electric discharge tube with a bulb which has at one end a cylindrical iiat bottomed base with projecting contact pins spaced away from the rim o! said base and at the other end a cylindrical contact cap smaller than the bulb of the tube, said carton comprising an oblong rectangular tubular shell, a pair oi square support trays tted into said shell to extend transversely of said shell near opposite ends, each of said trays having at its opposite edges tabs bent at right angles to the bottom of the tray to extend outwardly and lie flat against the corersponding sides of said shell, at least two of said tabs of each tray being permanently fixed to the adjoining sides of the shell, said trays being positioned inside said shell to engage the bottom of the base and the tip of the bulb of the tube and hold the entire tube within the confines of said shell, each of said trays having a contrai aperture smaller than the tube base to permit the tube contact pins to project through one tray and the tube contact cap to project through the other tray, said shell having along its corners outside one of said trays perforations arranged in lines extending lengthwise of the corners o! said shell between the end of said shell and tray and distributed to render said perforated corner weaker than the corner between said trays.

THOMAS F. JOYCE. 

